Stem cell transplantation for treatment of cerebral ischemia in rats Effects of human umbilical cord blood stem cells and human neural stem cells

BACKGROUND： Exogenous neural stem cell transplantation promotes neural regeneration. However, various types of stem cells transplantation outcomes remain controversial. OBJECTIVE： To explore distribution, proliferation and differentiation of human neural stem cells （hNSCs） and human umbilical cord blood stem cells （hUCBSCs） following transplantation in ischemic brain tissue of rats, and to compare therapeutic outcomes between hNSCs and hUCBSCs. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： Randomized controlled animal studies were performed at the Experimental Animal Center of Nanjing Medical University and Central Laboratory of Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University of China from September 2008 to April 2009. MATERIALS： hNSCs were harvested from brain tissue of 10 13 week old fetuses following spontaneous abortion, and hUCBSCs were collected from umbilical cord blood of full-term newborns at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University of China. hNSCs and hUCBSCs were labeled by 5-bromodeoxyuridine （BrdU） prior to transplantation. METHODS： Rat models of cerebral ischemia were established by the suture method. A total of 60 healthy male Sprague Dawley rats aged 7-9 weeks were randomly assigned to hNSC transplantation, hUCBSC transplantation and control groups. The rat models in the hNSC transplantation, hUCBSC transplantation and control groups were infused with hNSC suspension, hUCBSC suspension and saline via the caudal vein, respectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The distribution, proliferation and differentiation of hNSCs and hUCBSCs in ischemic brain tissue were observed using immunohistochemical methods. Neurological function in rats was assessed using the neurological severity score. RESULTS： The number of BrdU-positive cells was significantly greater in the hNSC transplantation group compared with hUCBSC transplantation group at 14 days following transplantation （P 〈 0.05） The number of BrdU-positive cells reached a peak at 28 days following transplantation. Nestin-positive, glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive, cyclic nucleotide 3＇ phosphohydrolase-positive and neuron specific enolase-positive cells were visible following transplantation. No significant difference was determined in the constituent ratio of various cells between hNSC and hUCBSC transplantation groups （P 〉 0.05）. The neurological severity score was significantly decreased in rats at 21 days following transplantation （P 〈 0.05）. No significant difference was detected in neurological severity score between hNSC and hUCBSC transplantation groups at various time points （P 〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION： The transplanted hNSCs and hUCBSCs can migrate into ischemic brain tissue, proliferate and differentiate into neuron-like, astrocyte-like and oligodendrocyte-like cells, and improve neurological function in rats with cerebral ischemia.

Mechanisms of inclusion evolution and intra-granular acicular ferrite formation in steels containing rare earth elements

Inclusion characteristic and microstructure steel were evaluated with scanning electron of rare earth （RE） elements containing microscopy with energy dispersive spec- troscopy （SEM-EDS）, element-mapping, optical microscopy （OM）, and automated feature analysis （AFA） option equipped with ASPEX PSEM. Factsage was used to calculate the equilibrium inclusion composition. Based on the calculation, an inclu- sion evolution mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, line scanning analysis was used to elucidate the intra-granular acicular ferrite （IAF） nucleation mechanism. The re- sult showed that two different inclusions exist in sample steel： （Mn-A1-Si-Ti-La-Ce-O） ＋MnS complex inclusion and isolated MnS inclusion. Almost all nucleation sites for IAF are complex inclusions, while single MnS inclusion cannot induce IAF. A possible formation mechanism of complex inclusion is proposed based on calculated results using Factsage, which agrees well with experimental results. A Mn-depletion zone （MDZ） which exists adjacent to the （Mn-A1-Si-Ti-La-Ce-O） ＋MnS complex inclusion can account for the IAF formation. However, the low volume fraction （1.49× 10-7） of effective inclusion may result in only 10% （volume fraction） IAF.